Square bottom bag



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A Patented Mar. 10,1942

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SQUARE BOTTGM BAG John F. Ames, Selma, Ala.;Evelyn H. Ames executrix oi.' said John F. Ames, deceased ApplicationDecember 7, 1937, Serial No.v 178,585

Claims.

This invention relating as indicated to a bag is more particularlydirected toa square bottom bag. This term as used in the art designatesa` bag in which the bottom when'fllled extends at right-angles to thefront and rear portions, or 'body portion, and yis not used to denotethe cross-section of the bag, which may be square, rectangular, circularor A triangular.

In the past difficulty has been encountered in the manufacture of squarebottom bags because the bottom portions` of any bag require considerablefolding and it is impossiblel to fold relatively stiff material, such asheavy paper, which is ordinarily required. On the other hand if lightweight paper is used which vfolds readily to form the bottom, suchmaterial will not stand the ravages of shipment and distribution. Inorder to. overcome this difliculty and to provide a bag which is veryinexpensive I have combined a body portion of paper or the like with abottom portion of flexible strong material, preferably cloth or fabricbut not necessarily so. It is to be understood, however, that I am notto be restricted to cloth per se as other flexible materials may beadvantageously used, provided such materials are inexpensive, relativelystrong as compared to the paper body, and easily folded.

Heretofore the demand for a strong container has been met by supplyingcardboard cartons which are much more expensive than paper bags. Inthepresent instance the composite bag of paper and cloth can be made upwith any desired strength. That is, relatively heavy unbendable papercan be used with a cloth-bottom the total cost being considerably underthat of a cardboard carton.

Figure 4 is a? plan view of the bag blank with the bottom portionattached thereto.

Figure 5 is asectional View similar to Figure 3 of a modification; and

Figure 6 is another perspective View similar to Figure 2 of amodification.

Referring now to the drawing, it will be seen that the body portion ofthe bag is made from a blank consisting of a front portion I, rearportion 2, side portions 4 and 5, side portions 3 and 6, the side,portion 3 having a ap 1 which is pasted or otherwise secured to theside portion 6. TheA crease lines I2, [3, I4, I5, I6, I1 andI8 separatethe various portions and permit the bag to be folded in afiat condition.The small flap 8 shown in Fig. 4 extends upwardly from the rear portion2 and is designed to be folded outwardly as shown more clearly in Fig.3. Flap To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, saidinvention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims; the annexed drawing and thefollowing description setting forth in detail one product constituting,however',

but one of the various applications of the prin-` 8 is integralwith thebody 4portion and subsequent to the attachment of, flap 1 on the sideofthe bag, the flap 8 is turned outwardly away from the opening of thebag to cover a Fig. 3.

Flap 8 is integral with the bodyportion and` subsequent to theattachment of flap 1v on the side of the bag, the flap 8 is turnedoutwardly away from the opening of the bag to cover a soft metal stripII as shown, or it may be folded inwardly (not shown).

The bottom portion 9 of relatively strong flexible material such asfabric or cloth is preferably secured to the paper blank by a line ofstitching I0. It is to be understood, however, that this bottom portion9 may be secured 'to the body portion by pasting, stapling, or where anextremely tight construction is desired, the bottom portion will beadhesively secured to the body portion as well as being stitchedthereto.

The bag is preferably made by attaching the bottom portion 9 to thepaper blank while said blank is in a'flat condition. The next step is tothen attachthe flap 1 to the side portion 6 which can be done in anydesired manner such as pasting, stitching and the like. After pastingflap 1, side portions 4 and 5, side portions 3 and 6 are folded inwardlyleaving exposed only rear portion 2 and front' portion I. Subsequent tothe placing of the side portions in and leaving exposed onlyfront-portion I4 and rear portion 2, the bottom stitch 40 ismade, thusclosing the bottom. The flap 8 is then turned outwardly and over themetal strip I I leaving flap 8 enclosing metal strip II upon the rearportion 2, and the bag is complete ready to receiveits contents. 'I'hestep of filling the bag is rendered quite easy because of the provisionof the flexible bottom into its proper shape. It should be noted that abag having a paper bottom cannot be as easily lled as my bag, becausepaper folds or creases do not readily expand.

In the method just described I have stated thatthe flap 8 is turnedoutwardly and downwardly over the metal strip l l after the flap lhas-been attached to the side portion but it will be understood thatthis step may be taken prior to pasting the flap l to the side portionIn the modication shown in Fig. 5 the top portion is intended to bestitched or stapled and where ne material, such as sugar, salt and. thelike, are contained in the bag, the flapsZ and 2l both projectingdownwardly, form a valve which prevents sifting of the material. This isespecially important where a paper bag is employed as care must be takenwith the stitching because if the stitches are too close together theupper portion will become detached from the lower portion and lf thestitches are too far apart the material will sift through. The provisionof these flaps renders Athe exact placement of stitches relativelyunimportant as long as they are not too close together.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a modiilcation of the bag bottom shown in Figs. land 2 and in this instance I use crepe paper 9' which is sumcientlystrong for certain usage and is cheaper than cloth. It will readilyunfold and except for the difference in tensile strength and appearanceis just as satisfactory as cloth.

It is to be noted that the seams @il and All' of' Figs. 1, 2 and 6 areshown distorted or extending outwardly for purposes of illustrationonly. In practice, just as soon as these bags have received theircontents the bottom portions will present a smooth,plane surface clue tothe weight of such contentandthe flexibility of such bottom. Seams t0and '40 are shown as being stitched but it will, of course, beunderstood that the seamsmay be made by stapling or pasting.

The crepe paper is, of course, more flexible than ordinary calenderedpaper out of which bags are customarily made but at the same time hasrequisite tensile strength to withstand the shocks and strainsencountered in shipping.

It will now be seen that I have provided a bag which is suitablef toreceive. pro'ducts such as sugar. salt, rice, etc. and-one which can behandled quite carelessly because the body portion can be made of verystrong inflexible paper, whereas the bottom portion is made of a stillstronger material which is easily folded thus providing the requisitestrength in all portions of the bag.

It will also be seen that a wide choice of bag strengths is provided asthe body of the bag may be made of any grade or thickness of paperdepending upon the product that is to be shipped.

It will further be seen that the cost of a strong bag is markedlyreduced since paper comprises about 90% of the composite bag which holdsthe cost to a minimum, yet therels no limitation upon the strength orthickness .of paper.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed,change being made as regards the details described, provided thefeatures stated in any of the following claims, or the equivalent ofsuch, be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

l. A bag of the character described comprising front, rear and sideportions and a bottom portion, said front, rear and side portions beingcomposed of relatively stiff, single ply paper and said bottom portionbeing composed of a material that is more flexible than ordinarycalendered paper but which possesses requisite tensile strength, saidbottom being closed by uniting said front and rear portions with a partof said side portions folded therebetween.

2. A bag of the character described comprising front, rear and sideportions and a bottom portion, said front, rear and side portions beingcomposed of paper and presenting substantially smooth at surfaces, saidbottom portion being composed of a material that is more flexible thanordinary calendered paper but which possesses Yrequisite tensilestrength, said bottom portion being stitched to the interior surfaces ofsaid other portions, said bottom being closed by uniting said front andrear portions with a part of said side portions folded therebetween.

3. A bag of the character described comprising front, rear and sideportions and a bottom por'- tion, said front, rear and side portionsbeing composed of paper and presenting substantially smooth flatsurfaces, said bottom portion being composed of a material that is morefiexible than ordinary calendered paper but which possesses requisitetensile strength, said bottom portion being adhesively secured to theinterior surfaces of said other portions, said bottom being closed byuniting said front and rear portions with a part of said side portionsfolded therebetween.

4. A bag of the character described comprising front, rear and sideportions and a bottom portion, said front, rear and side portions beingcomposed of relatively stiff, single ply ordinary calendered paper andsaid bottom portion being composed of crepe paper, said bottom beingclosed by uniting said front and rear portions with a part of said sideportions folded therebetween.

. 5. A bag blank comprising a front portion, a

rear portion, an overlapping portion and side portions, all of saidportions having interior and exterior surfaces and lower edges thatextend in a singleline and being formed of one integral piece of singleply paper, there being a strip of fabric material attached to saidinterior surfaces and coextensive withsaid lower edges.

JOHN F. AMES.

